Chris Souder is making progress after a summer boating accident and eager to be able to demonstrate drills himself on the court. (West Virginia Thunder Photo)
It may not sound like much but being “well enough to go back to work” is a significant milestone for Mercer County girls basketball coach Chris Souder.
He was seriously injured in a tubing accident on the Lake of the Ozarks in mid-June when he suffered a broken hip, broken pelvis and knee injury.
Souder had made the decision to leave South Laurel where he had a 136-63 mark with two 13th Region championships in six seasons to return to Mercer County where he won state championships in 2017 and 2018. He compiled a 490-214 record at Mercer from 1999-2018 and won five 12th Region titles — including four straight from 2015-18 — and 17 46th District championships. His 626 total wins place him eighth on the list of Kentucky’s all-time winningest girls coaches and fourth among active coaches.
“I am a full-time sub at the high school and my original plan was not to start until after the October fall break but I decided to go back earlier even though I’m on crutches,” he said. “I’ve been doing PT (physical therapy) three times a week and it is way harder than I ever imagined. I had never really done PT. I am not a crier but a couple of days I’ll admit I thought I might cry because it hurt.”
HIs limp is not as noticeable now but he says he still has a long way to go.
“I am not crazy mobile yet,” Souder said.
That created some limitations on his coaching during preseason workouts but he insisted he will “not miss a regular practice” because the team has too much work to do.
“I just want to get to where if we are doing a drill I can show the players what to do and not have to get an assistant to do it,” he said. “I got to do some summer basketball with the players before I got hurt. We are kind of in a rebuilding mode and I needed to be in the gym more than I have been. I was not as visible with the middle school team as I wanted to be.
“I don’t think I ever missed a day of conditioning or practice as a coach but now I have missed some due to PT. I have great assistants but that still bothers me because I know I need to be there.”
Souder brought strength coach Chuck Miller from South Laurel to Mercer and considers that a “vital” move to help his young players get more accustomed to the weight room workouts.
Sean Pigman is returning home to Mercer as an assistant coach after spending the last five seasons as head coach at Whitley County. Jennifer Merchant was on the previous staff and will remain as director of basketball operations to do “social media, stats and all the stuff” Souder does not like to do.
Souder’s son, Conner, will coach the junior varsity teams and also help with the varsity.
Conner’s son will be 1 year old in November and that was a big reason Chris Souder came back to Mercer County.
“I want to see him in the gym. I can remember days where Connor was running all over the gym as a kid,” the Mercer coach said.
He would also like to eventually have key players off his two state championship teams at Mercer helping the program.
“I have been trying to get Emma Davis and Seygan Robins (a former Miss Basketball) involved to help bring some energy back in the program. However, they are both expecting (pregnant) but I told them next spring we can get babysitters while they help,” Souder said. “Getting them around the kids would be big.
“I have also talked to the Lake twins (Faith and Lexy) and they have done some work with our kids but the more we can get these players back around, the better off our younger kids will be.”
Souder knows he faces a major rebuilding job after Mercer lost Anna Drakeford and Sara Dunn, who combined for 37 points per game, off last year’s team.
“We have more questions than I have about a team in a long time,” Souder said. “I can talk all I want about what Mercer has been and how we can get back there but these kids are so young.”
His centerpiece will be sophomore Izzie Carlton, who averaged 11.1 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds per game last year while shooting 47.5 percent from the field.
“I am used to being small, quick and running. This will be one of the bigger teams I have had,” Souder said. “She is 6-3, and her sister (Kate Carlton) is 6-1 and our only senior. We are going to have size and have to figure out to get the ball to them.
“Some of our ballhandlers might be middle school kids. We have got to be creative. Izzie is a really good piece to build around. She does natural things. Both her and her sister are natural shot blockers with deceptive length.
Mercer will open the season Dec. 3 in Louisville against Mercy Academy and Souder has set his own personal goal for that date.
“People asked if I was still going to coach when I got hurt,” he said. “I said then if I have to crawl out there, I will coach. My goal for the first game is to be as active as always because that is what the players deserve.”
